1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to machines utilized for aerating golf course fairways and greens, and lawns by mechanical removal of cylindrical plugs of turf from the fairway, green, or lawn. In particular, the present invention is related to collecting and catching the cylindrical plugs after they are removed from the fairway, green, or lawn by the aerator machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices for perforating and for removing plugs of turf from lawns are well known in the art. Typical of such devices are those shown in the following U.S. Patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,881,844 discloses a turf plug cutter for cutting plugs of turf for transplanting to establish new growths of turf without the necessity of planting seed. The turf plug cutter includes a frame, a fluid motor on the frame, and a piston connected to a tubular cutter member for reciprocating the same, a valve on the frame for selectively admitting fluid pressure to one side or the other of the piston, means normally urging the valve to a position to admit pressure below the piston to hold the cutter member in its upper position, a solenoid for moving the valve to a position to admit pressure to the motor to drive the cutter member downward, a manually actuable switch in circuit with the solenoid to initially energize the solenoid, and switches on the frame actuable by the cutter member at the ends of its stroke to alternately energize and de-energize the solenoid.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,022,833 discloses a sod plug cutting machine adapted to be drawn over the ground and having a wheel-like drum with spaced tubular digging elements extending radially from the periphery thereof which are forced into the ground during rotation of the drum-like member to dig sod plugs to be transplanted or to dig sod plug holes in a lawn to be treated. The machine includes a wheel having a rim, a plurality of circumferentially spaced circular apertures in the wheel rim, a tubular member fixed on the wheel rim at each circular aperture and extending radially inwardly therefrom and terminating in an inner portion turned outwardly relative to a side of the wheel, the tubular members each having a through bore with a counterbore extending therein from the wheel rim and in registry with the respective circular aperture, a plurality of tubular digger elements open at each end thereof, the digger elements each having one end portion sleeved in a respective counterbore with the other end of each of the digger elements extending radially and outwardly from the wheel rim, and means removably engaging the tubular member and the respective digger element for securing the digger element to the tubular member, the tubular digger elements each having a bore with a tapered portion adjacent the outer end thereof and terminating in a cutting edge for cutting a cylindrical plug of smaller diameter than the bore in the cutting element and the tubular member remote from the cutting edge whereby plugs are cut and retained in the tapered portion of the bore and subsequent plugs cut by the respective digger element force the first cut plug into the bore remote from the tapered portion for gravitational movement from the open end of the outwardly turned portion of the respective tubular member upon inversion thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,362 discloses a penetrating machine or lawn perforating machine for forming rows of holes in the ground including a perforating roller which is adapted to roll on the ground and whose peripheral surface carries perforating tubes mounted for pivotal movement about axes extending parallel to the axis of the roller so that from the beginning to the end of their contact with the ground their axes remain substantially perpendicular to the ground. Part of the periphery of the roller is enclosed by a guide plate to intercept plugs of earth formed by the perforating tubes. In one embodiment a spring comb is disposed behind the roller to produce clean holes even in wet ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,510 discloses an apparatus for the provision of vertical drain channels in grass, fields, meadows, etc.. A frame is provided journalling a rotary shaft having a lever system for rectilinearly driving at least one set of pins into and out of the ground. The lever system has a pair of substantially parallel spaced rods connected pivotally at one end to the set of pins and at the other end pivotally to the frame and offset from each other. The lower rod is extendible in length when the pins are placed under load and automatically resumes its normal length when the load is removed.
Devices of the prior art for catching plugs of turf generated by plug cutting devices of the prior art are exemplified by the following patent:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,578 discloses a plug catcher for a green aerator which temporarily catches the small plugs of turf as extracted by a turf-aerating machine, the catcher being characterized as particularly easy to attach and remove from the gleaning edge, that is, the front or leading edge, of the catcher only a small fraction of an inch from the ground, this distance being regulated effectively by locating this edge closely adjacent to the ground contact points of the rear supporting wheels of the aerator machine. The catcher is essentially a platform and is illustrated as having a wall making the same box-like and it is substantially balanced upon ground-contacting casters with the front end releasibly latched onto the axle of the aerator and dimensioned to extend below the axle, immediately to the rear of the aerator's plug extractors, so that the aforementioned gleaning edge brushes the grass of the fairway turf, being positively held in this turf-engaging position, to sweep the extracted plugs into the box-like enclosure of the catcher. Handling the aerator and catcher is ordinarily a two-man job and two axle-engaging latch hooks, one at each side, are provided for attaching and handling the catcher, which when loaded with extracted turf plugs is lifted from the aerator machine and ordinarily emptied into a truck or cart.